7.28.2009

Cars I've (Wished I'd) Owned (Part 9 of 14)

I’m extending this series of posts to include cars I’d realistically like to own. Now, let’s be clear about what that means. Sure, there are tons of cars I simply like and have wondered about or pictured owning, like the last gen Subaru WRX, Mercedes SLK Roadster, Porsche Cayenne Turbo, various Range Rovers, Mazda’s RX-8, BMW’s 850i, Z8, M6, M-Coupe, or fantasy Lamborghini Diablo type stuff (I could do this all day…), but I’m really trying to stick to cars I’ve seriously considered or have actively sought after at one point or another, the ones that have made a lasting impression.

1967 Sunbeam Alpine TigerAka: “The Tiger”

You basically take a sexy, lightweight 1960’s English convertible and drop a Ford Windsor V8 into it and get like 350 to 400hp depending on your set up. These things are really endlessly modifiable. A friend of the family had one of these when I was growing up and it was the first time as a child I can recall that cars seemed pretty fucking cool on an intuitive, primal level. They could be a hobby you tinkered with and customized to make a unique creation that reflected your personality, not merely a cookie-cutter conveyance to get you from point A to point B. This is the closest thing to a pod racer you’ll experience this side of Tatooine; it’s basically a seat strapped to a big-ass engine that skims the surface of the planet with incredible force. I tell you, riding around in this thing makes you want to dogfight with the Germans over the skies of London, it’s that kick-ass name like old WWII fighter planes had. The car weighs nothing, so the brute force power-to-weight ratio makes this thing roar with intensity just like the officially adopted nickname “Tiger” leads you to believe.